Furse suggests post-Ike property appraisals

Republican Austen Furse, candidate for the state Senate seat vacated by Kyle Janek, today suggested that local governments seek an unprecedented re-appraisal of taxable real estate properties in the wide swath hit by Hurricane Ike.

Furse cited a state law that allows such appraisals. A home worth, say, $250,000 before Ike that suffered $75,000 in Ike damage would be taxed on its original value for most of the year and then on the lower amount for the rest of the year.

First, though, counties, cities, school districts, etc., would have to shoulder the cost of having the Harris County Appraisal District look at the homes and other properties. Maybe that’s why no local governments have asked HCAD to do so.

Chief Appraiser Jim Robinson said it would cost about $5 million to do such a study across the entire county. Of course coastal counties, such as those in the multi-county state Senate District 17 boundaries, also suffered damage.

Robinson said that unless a property was destroyed by the storm, tax savings on damage may not amount to much.

Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt said if only Harris County government seeks the re-appraisals, then only taxes paid to Harris County would be affected — and that taxpayers would save a total of about $5.5 million.

But if all government entities in the county help foot the $5 million bill, the savings to taxpayers, in money that they otherwise would have paid to school districts, cities and the like, would reach a projected $20 million, based on estimated total Ike damage in Harris County of $3 billion.

Said Furse:

There are thousands of people who suffered significant damage or lost their entire homes. It is only fair that they should have their properties reappraised so that we don’t ask people to pay taxes on a home that was washed away by Hurricane Ike.